Ribbon-feed for type-writers.



, PATERITBB JUNE 12, 1906.

w. E. SHERWOOD. 1113mm FEED FOB TYPE WRITERS.

LPPLIGATIOH nun in. 2a. 1905.

W1 l'nc a c l 7 kg 11 s fll'l'otnu AZ, l

UNITED STATES IZXEENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 12, 1906.

Application filed February 23, 1905. Berle-1H0. 246.876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SHER- woon, a citizen of the United States, residin at the city of New York, in the borough 0 Brooklyn and, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ribbon-Feeds for ljrpe-Writers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescri tion.

is invention relates to ribbon-shiftin mechanism for type-writers, and has specia reference to those of the visible-writing class. Hitherto it has been dificult to provide an automatic reverse of the ribbon in this class of machines and specially one which will permit the ribbon-spools to be removed from the machine when necessary to be renewed or for an other purpose.

A furt er object is to provide an improved form of such device that shall be extremely simple in construction and operation and composed of a minimum number of parts.

Aceordingeto my invention I rovide a single mom 1- movable by the rib on when unwound'on one of the spools, which itself directly engages a. fixed piece on the shaft driving the spools alternately, and thereb shifts the she t into driving engagement wit the spindle carrying such spool. According.

to my invention I further arrange such shifting member so as to be attached to the end of the ribbon, whereby the direct pull of the ribbon when 'entirel unwound swings the member, and whicll arrangement further serves as the means of attachment of the ribhon tothe winding spool or drum and by means of which the spool is made readily remrigaiillle. d In e aocom anying rawin ustrating a ribbon-shift mechanism em odying my invention, Figure I is a front elevation.- Fig. 2 is a lan view; and Fig. 3 is a broken horizonta section thro the middle part of one of the mole, she the slot in the lower disk of spec and. is reduced hub.

The driving-shaft 5 is supported in suitablebearings6,7,8,and9 mapairofsuitable brackets 10 and 11, secured to any convenient part of the frame of the machine. (Not shown.) The shaft can be'rotated by a 12 from a movable part of the machine fi m ofthonsualmeansandcanalsobe b a hand-crank 13 when desired.

Thebrac tlflisprovidedwithbearingsid 15, in which is journaled a spindle 16, ing a 17 and rotated driving-shaft 5 by a bevel-gear 18, fixed on the spindle, that .meshes with a bevel-gear 19, fixed on the shaft 5 when the shaft is in the position shown in Fl l. A spindle 16' is similarly journaled in bearings 14 15 on the bracket llsnd carries a ribbon-s ool 17 and a gear 18, arranged to mesh wit a gear 19, fixed on the shaft 5, but shown out of mesh in the drawings. By shiftin the shaft endwise either one or the other 0 the gears on the shaft meshes with its gear on one of the spindles.

Each of the spindles carries a shifting member movable thereon and engaged by the ribbon on the spool when unwound and moved, the movable member having its other end arranged to engage a fixed detent on the shaft and shift the same from engaging the ,other'spool-spindle to engage this spindle and rewind the ribbon on its spool.

-' The movable shifting member is shown as arodor lever 20, ivoted ,at its middle'part "inthe spindle 16, t at is msdetebtflar there- .fcrQ ,At the lower part the spindle has a slot Ifi'inte which the lever moves when swung to engagethe piece or collar 34 on the shaft 5.

' lnths upper art of the spindle is a slot 16",

through whic the bent end cEgrtion 20 of the lever projects, beingsin ed outward and then extending su antially parallel with itsmain part to the extremity. Endwise movement of the spindle 1 6 is prevented by the gear 18 engaging the bearing 14 and a collar 21 set on the spindle engaging the journa 15. a

The ribbon-egg: 17 rotates in a cup 22, supported by a t arm 23 the cup having an opening in the bottom, inwhioh turns the reduced part of a disk 24, secured on the spingdle 16. A slot 25 is made in the disk 24,

ugh. which passes the lever 16. The spool 17 comprises a hub 26, having we head or disk portions 27 28. The bore of the hub is formed to fit snugly on the spindle lfi when the hub will rest on the disk 24, the lower head being just free of the cup. The hub 26 has a cut portion 29 cut awfalhnd the lower has a slot 30 exten' outward from the hub at this part, as indicated in Fig. 3. The lever 20 projects through this slot in the lower head, and as the lever is around as the spindle rotates 7 it gerethe To] with it as if fast on the :hhdnf the spin e W W V 7 through a slot 32 in the cup 22 and has a loop The ribbon 31 passes at its end, thatsecures it to the end of the lever 16. The loop is first put over the lever and the ribbon slid into the slot 32, and then the ribbon-spool is slid on the spindle, the ribbon and lever passing through the slot 30 in the head, that is extended to the eriphery for this purpose. The turning of the spindle will now carry the end of the ribbon around, as if secured directly to the hub of the spool, and the end of the lever will be pressed against the hub by the layers of the ribbon, and it will be also rocked to this osition b the detent on the shaft 'when t e latter is shifted by the other spind e device.

When the ribbon becomes unwound from the spool 17, it will assume a radial position therein, as shown in the drawings, and upon tension being put thereon from the other winding-spool it will draw the end of the lever 20 outward from the spindle. This will rock the lever on its pivot, and the other end of the lever will en a e the detent or collar 34 on the shaft and s tit, moving its gear 19 into mesh with the gear 18 on the spindle 16, as shown in Fig. 1, and moving the gears 18 and 19 out of engagement.

The spindle 16, carrying s 001 17 in cup 22, and lever 20 are arrange and operate in precisely the same manner as those parts above described, and the other end of the ribbon 31 is attached by a loop 33 to the end of the lever 20', and upon the ribbon becoming unwound from this spool 17' the lever 20 is swung, and its other end will engage the collar 34 and shift'the shaft again from meshin with the other spindle-gear 18 to now mesl i with the gear 18'.

The device is shown'as operating with the ribbon movin in a vertical plane and passin through a shi ting-bar B, by which it is raised to the printing-point at each operation of a lcey and normally held below such lace. W iere such disposition is made of'the r1 bon, I provide on the upper edge of the on 22 a finger or hook 35, extendm across t e to edge of the ribbon and then ent downwar preventing the ribbon from being drawn vertically upward, lyet leaving an open space through which t e ribbon can be passed to put on and remove.

In order to hold the shaft 5 in its two positions to which shifted by the levers, I arrange a small ball 36 in an opening in the journal 7, that is pressed bya coil-spring 37, lying between it and a screw 38, tapped into the opening into one of two grooves 39 40 in the shaft, that are located so as to be engaged by the ball when in its two said positions.

While the ribbon-spool spindles are shown arranged vertically, it is obvious that they can be dis osed on a horizontal axis and also that the ri bon can -be.passed over guide-pulleys, yet the device operate in the same manner as herein set forth.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination of a spindle carrying a ribbon-spool, a shaft shiftable to have a driving engagement with the spindle, ,and a member movably supported on the spindle and havi one end extending into engagement with t e ribbon on the spool whereby when the ribbon is unwound the member is moved on the spindle, said member having its other end arranged to engage and shift the shaft into driving engagement with the spindle u on said movement of the member by the In 'l h b f d] arryin 2. e com ination o a s in e e "a ribbo'n-spool, a shaft shjftablia to have a driving engagement with the spindle, and a'member movably supported on the spindle, and having one end extendin into the s 001 and eng mgth'e end of the ri bon Where y when the r1 bon is unwound, the member is moved on the spindle by the ribbon, said member hav' its other end arranged to eng e and shift the shift into engagement wit the spindle u 'n said movement of the member by the rib on.

3. The combination of a spindle carrying a ribbon-spool, a gear on thes indle, a dri shaft 'havin a gear fixed t ereon, the sha being .shifta le to move the gear into and out of meshwith the spindle-gear, a detent fixed on the shaft, a lever pivoted on the spindle and having one end arra ed toengage said detent, and having its ot er end pro]ecting into the spool and arra edto be engaged I? theribbon'when unwoun and therebyrocke' cau its other end to engage the detent and shift the shaft to e age said gears.

4. e combination 0 a spindle carrying a ribbon-spool, a gear onthe shaft havi a gear fixed-t ereon, the she. t being shifta le to move the gear into and out of mesh withthe spindle-gear, a detent fixed on the shaft, a lever pivoted on the spindle and having one end arranged to engage'said detent, and having its ot or end progeeting into the s 001 and connected to the en of'the ribbon w 'e'reby when the'ribbon is unwound, the lever is thereb rocked, causingl its other end to engage the etent and shift t engagp said gears.

5. he combination of a spindle, a drivingshaft, a shiftin member movable on the spindle to shift the shaft into position to drive the spindle, the member having one end dispose in proximitylto the end-o'f'the sfiiltdle, a ribbon secured to said end of the s ing member, and a spool ha a slot in one head whereby when inserte on the spindle the ribbon end portion will pass 'thro'ug'h'the slot into the s ool and the ribbon-eng end of the s ifting member will pro ect thro h the slot.

6. e co plfiination 1of a dt pbularhsgifitndle carrying a n on-spoo a 'vmg-s arra ed'to operate the spindle, a lever pivoted insi e the spindle, the spindle having a slot in indle, adriv' e shaft to its lower end portion throughwhjch the lower 1 o end of the lever swings and has a shifting enagement with the shaft, the spindle also having a slot in its upper part through which the lever projects, the spool having an opening into which said lever projects and is engaged by the ribbon, when unwound, and thereby swung to shift said shaft into position to operate the spindle. g

7. In a type-Writer, the combination of a spindle carrying a ribbon-s 001, a shaft shifta le to engage and drive t e spindie, and a single member movable on the spindle and having one end ortion arranged to engage and shift the she. t, and having its other end secured to the end of a ribbon and holding the same on the ribbon-spool, said member being also arranged to be moved by the ribhon, when unwound, and thereby shift said shaft to engage and drive the spindle. 8. A type-Writer ribbon-spool com a hub having a disk portion at each on threof, the hub having a segment portion cut away at one side, and one of the disk portions v having a slot extending from its periphery to the hub at said cut-away portion, substantially as set forth.

9. In a ribbon mechanism, a spindle, a isver connected thereto ribbon-reversing means and connections om said lever to said means, and a spool ada ted to removably engage said spindle and ever, said spool having a slot extending through the periphery in a side wall thereof.

10. A ribbon mechanism comprising a reversing device and a spindle having an axially-arranged transversely-inovabie member apted to engage the end of the 

